Archive for September, 2010
Why this extinction isn’t like the others
Almost a month ago I told you I’d have more to say about Novacek and Cleland’s biodiversity crisis paper. I’m sure you’re relieved to discover that I’m not a liar. Last time I wrote about this paper I focused on why we care about biodiversity from an evolutionary standpoint – how big extinction events prune […]
Figures Lie and Liars Figure – Who can you trust?
This is part two in a series based on questions, concerns, and misconceptions that my aunt (and many other people) have about climate change. Last week, I posted about money concerns – that many people think scientists are making up this data to get rich or famous (a view perpetuated by the lovely senator from Oklahoma). […]
A Silly Verse
I’ve been told that it’s impossible to truly appreciate Pushkin’s Eugene Onegin unless you read it in Russian. I may not recognize how truly great the poetry is, but I had a wonderful time reading it regardless. A gazillion critics have written gazillions of pages on the poem and you might enjoy poking through a […]
Studying for the GRE
I’m taking the GRE on Tuesday and have been studying the last few weeks in my copious free time. Studying for the GRE is dull, but necessary. For example, I know how to solve all the math problems I’ve come across so far – but I don’t necessarily know a fast or efficient way to […]
Music for Writing – Andrew Bird
A few months ago I promised I’d be sharing some of the music I do my best writing to. I’ve taken awhile to fulfill that promise, partly because I didn’t get much writing done while I was traveling in August, but I’ve gotten back into the swing of things now. Since I got back to […]
Figures Lie and Liars Figure – On Discussing Climate Change with Relatives
Many of my relatives don’t believe that climate change is occurring. As a scientist interested in what climate change means for the ecosystems humans rely on, this is a mite frustrating. One of my aunts is actually interested in learning more. In our last discussion, I realized that a lot of things that I think […]